MY FRIEND MOU CHANNELLING RICARDO

Tonight, we had a great meal of Indian food that was amazing! First, the 5 women that could make the supper are all interesting lovely people. The evening was gorgeous, the rose perfectly chilled Tempranillo from Spain, and the backyard even included a grove of Bamboo, a dog who pruned them, a kid that climbed trees!

Tandori Salmon served with the best cilantro chutney with some serious lovely heat

Butter chicken - yum! Complex and perfect with rice.
POULET AU BEURRE

Chick pea curry

Cucumber Raita

Very nice served in a backyard with sunshine and laughter. It led to discussion from first menstruations, the diva cup, divorce and other lesser known arrangements, and food, drink, kids and dogs!

SPONTANEOUS GARAGE SALE

My daughter went to bed last night with the idea of making signs for a garage sale. I had been cleaning out some things from the basement, and shed, and she really wanted to paint!. I outlined the words on the second sign, above, but she, given the primary paint colours in our paintbox - yellow, red and blue - proceeded this morning to make this beautiful sign, taking the trouble to mix colours and adding stamps and polka dots before declaring it done! 

We walked down the street when we had our signs and stickers ready, about ten am. It took two failed attempts with different staples, and a hammer and nails to get the sign up, but we did sell $30 worth of stuff, all Rebecca's. I was happily surprised that she was willing to sell her Little Tike car, Kitchenette and Dora house with furniture. She graciously gave Amber part of the proceeds, as it was her Dora house originally.  It was a great day outside and with my daughter.

This sign is all Rebecca! Cats, butterflies, and complex colours! It was beautiful!

THE PERFECT BIRTHDAY GIFT

Grumpy cat dressed for a party

ST HUBERT CELEBRATION POST FROZEN BALLET

Chicken quarter leg with fries

L'animalerie

Date square table d'hôte

Le Clown desert! Hard to share!

OTTAWA EATS

Who knew that a vegetarian adult could have a happy meal with grilled cheese ? Junk food in a pinch, when your significant other wants a bacon burger and your daughter wants chicken nuggets happy meals with a toy!

Sweet potato, mushrooms, and goat cheese pastry

Yum!

Ground turkey

A perfect plate

CACAO 70 ON PARK

A healthy overdose of chocolate turtle fondue to share with a friend! The fondue is only half as deep as it looks (the candle is supposed to go below, but didn't come with it!)

BUTTERFLIES FLY FREE AND INSECTARIUM

Every year since my daughter was an infant, we have gone to the Botanical Gardens to watch Butterflies Fly Free. I love it. I love the Morpho Bleu. I love the flowering gardens. I love the metamorphosis of tiny eggs into beautiful fragile butterflies that can fly for miles and line the crysalis with a necklace of gold. Often we hit the Chinese Garden too, but this time we hit the insectarium. The wall of colourful beetles was beautiful! I just dug up by accident one of those beauties in the garden buried under the blueberry tree. Funny how shiny and beautiful they are when they are just hiding in the dirt!

Girls admiring beetles. Funny to think a lot of them are so colourful, but they are hidden by darkness or dirt almost their whole lives.

Newly hatched Morpho

Beetles

HEALTHY LUNCH THAT WOULD MAKE A GREAT PICNIC

Pinapple celery pine nut salad, tofu celery almond salad, and ichiban with peas and corn.

A GREETING FROM MY DAUGHTER ON MY ARRIVAL HOME FROM WORK

PICNIC TOFU SALAD

Sauteed tofu, crunchy celery and grapes with roasted almonds marinated in soy sauce and honey. A filling lunch warm or a  nice side cold for supper.

THE TUCK SHOP IN ST. HENRI WITH A GREAT CREW

This garden salad rocks! Parmesan, colourful beets in strips, slices and cubes, spinach, carrots, peppers and almond, it was amazing! Greens on top puzzle me but added a little bitterness that was interesting.

Vegetarian Pasta off menu with actual  protein! Delicious spicy tomato sauce with crunchy green beans, fresh lima beans and mushroom on a tagliatelle pasta. YUMM!

STARBUCKS SPICY CHAI LATTE

My favourite Christmas gift: a Starbucks gift card!

ANDY WARHOL INSPIRATION

TURKISH DELIGHT

It was my friend's birthday and I know she loves turkish delight. So I found a  how video called from an enthusiastic you tuber that calls her show Titli's Busy Kitchen, and gave it a try. It was fussy work but not difficult (corn starch not gelatine). The biggest challenge was finding a shape to make it in. I wanted to make 4 flavours, so a usual square baking dish was not going to do it. These were made in a mini muffin tins. The powdered sugar absorbed quickly, so next time I would use more.

The flavours were as follows:
YELLOW - lemon, BLUE - almond, RED - rose petal, GREEN - apple ice cider/cinnamon

1 1/2 cup water 
4 cups sugar
1 T lemon juice 

 2 cups water
1 cup cornstarch
1 t cream of tartar

1 T roseflower water (1 tsp in hot water makes a great beverage)
food colouring

1 cup icing sugar (plan for needing extra)
1/4 cup cornstarch


Place 1.5 cups water,  sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan and bring to boil.
Heat to 115C (softball stage), then turn off heat.
In separate saucepan, whisk cornstarch and cream of tartar into 2 cups of water to remove lumps. Bring to boil, and remove from heat once a "gluey" paste.
Incorporate small amounts of the sugar syrup into the cornstarch past while whisking between additions.
Bring the mixture to boil, and simmer gently about 1 hour, stirring frequently until amber coloured.
Divide and flavour to taste, or add roseflower water to entire batch with a few drops of food colouring.
Oil and line with parchment paper 8x8" baking dish (or mini-muffin tin as above). 
Pour in turkish delight, and cool covered for several hours.
Dust with icing sugar and turn out onto surface dusted liberally with more icing sugar.
Cut with pizza cutter or lightly oiled knife. 
Sift icing sugar and cornflour into a large storage container and add the squares of Turkish delight.
Store sealed on countertop
                 

HOMELY COOKING

A favourite meal, Naan and red curry lentils with cilantro.

Pancake faces

Fish and Chips with celery apple salad

Shitake mushroom ravioli with bean and garden salad. Learned that you don't want to keep the stems on , they are too tough. Still a very nice meal with amazing Mandarin Orange Sesame Dressing, my favourite go to.

Rice wrappers filled with raisin/nut and sautéd, then covered in maple syrup. Decadent.

Curry loaf. Disappointing but edible.

Hasselbach potatoes. Roasted are as good but less work.

VARADERO'S OCEAN LA PATRIARCA

El Patriarcha, the oldest cactus (an avocado cactus tree) in Cuba, on the property (only took us 3 days to find it, and one mother son couple never did!)

Classic view of 2 relaxed tootsies

A view to Florida!

Grasshopper made with a strand of palm leaf.

Our favourite restaurant Brasilete. 

Fish and shrimp was excellent and the vegetable pastry was also very good.

SUGARING OFF IN THE BACK YARD

TIRE SUR LA NEIGE

First you open a can of maple syrup. Then you boil it to 115 C/238 F.

Then you find some clean snow. This was freshly provided in our back yard.

Next time, pack it down so it doesn't sink in so fast! Still worked out fine!

Wait until crystals form, and rotate spoon into the tire. Enjoy, and without the taste of wood! 

EASTER EGGS

Two colour fondant

Egg shapes

The eggs looked a little too much like potatoes, so the sprinkles compensated a little!